County Auditor s Conference. May 4, Regional Disaster Finance Program

Transcription

1 County Auditor s Conference Disaster Finance and the Auditor s Role May 4, 2016 Regional Disaster Finance Program q How many of you are ever been notified that an actual disaster in your area is occurring or had occurred? q How many days after? ( A day, a week, a month, ever) q How many of you have ever been deployed to your county EOC during a disaster? q Did you know what your role was? q Why you were there? q How many of you have had the challenge of being reimbursed for expenses related to a disaster in your area? q How many of you felt that you didn t have enough tools in the toolbox to complete this task? 1

2 Why Focus on Local Jurisdictions Federally Declared Disasters in Texas from 1989 Dec. 2016: Total Emergency Declarations 13 Major Declarations 46 Fire Management Assistance Declaration (FMAG) 235 Jurisdictional Challenges De-obligation of Project Funding FEMA and Office of Inspector General (OIG) Audit Findings Improper Payment Recovery Act (IPRA) Records Management Local Reimbursement Issues 3 OIG: FREQUENT AUDIT FINDINGS Improper Contracting Practices Unsupported Costs Poor Project Accounting Excessive Equipment Charges Unapplied Credits Excessive Labor and Fringe Benefit Charges Duplication of Benefits Unrelated Project Charges Direct Administrative Costs Obtain and Maintain Insurance 4 2

3 Types of Disasters Major Disaster Declarations 22% 16% 2% 3% 37% Coastal Storm Fire Flood Freezing Hurricane Other % 1% 16% 2% Severe Ice Storm15 1 Severe Storm(s) 1 Tornado 19 5 Why Prepare? Remember Texas is #1! In 2016, Texas experienced several significant events: DR-4255 (January Blizzard and Severe Weather) DR-4266 (March Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding) DR-4269 (April Storms and Flooding) DR-4272 (May June, Storms and Flooding) 6 3

4 Texas by the Numbers 254 Counties 1,210 Cities 1,024 ISDs Six of the most populous cities in the U.S. #4 Houston #7 San Antonio #9 Dallas #11 Austin #16 Fort Worth #19 El Paso Texas Population Growth Large and growing population compounds disaster n 2010 Texas population: 25,145, Texas population estimate: 27,469,114 Estimated population increase of 2,323,553 residents 4

5 State of Texas Disaster Declaration Threshold To qualify for federal assistance after a disaster, states must meet a pre-established population based damage threshold. ($1.43 per capita) Thresholds Texas $35,958,152 ($39,843,512) Arkansas $ 4,169,763 ($4,273,195) Louisiana $ 6,482,722 ($6,694,782) Oklahoma $ 5,364,432 ($5,610,692) New Mexico $ 2,944,626 ($2,975,8851) 9 County Disaster Declaration Thresholds Thresholds are determined on a per capita basis Based on last OFFICIAL (decennial ) census; not projections Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) determines a Statewide and Countywide Indicator each Federal fiscal year (Oct Sept) based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) FEMA Public Assistance Countywide (Statewide) Indicators FY14: $3.50 FY15: $3.56 FY16: $3.57 FY17: $

6 Lessons Learned Lessons Learned Do not be afraid to ask for help Know who your DC, State Coordinator, and Regional Disaster Finance Coordinator 6

7 Lessons Learned Be PATIENT!!!! Have open communication with Operations, Plans, and Logistics Be prepared for Just in time Training Start the FINANCE Process Early Engage County Treasurer, Auditor, Finance Director, HR, Procurement Lessons Learned Be prepared to report time, equipment, procurement on a daily basis If you do not have spreadsheets capable of calculating cost Go OLD SCHOOL!!!! PAPER!!! Understand what contracts you have in place and local, state, and federal procurement laws 7

8 Lessons Learned Establish Debris Management procedures in advance (Plan, Sight and Contract) Know the importance of Volunteers and Donated Resources Develop a Process from Real Life Events Daily Burn Rate Repairs Leases Other Travel Cost Food Fuel 8

9 Daily Burn Rate vs. Reimbursement Track ALL COSTS Reported daily Daily Burn Rate Mechanism for capture of raw data in real time Provide situational awareness of event Eligible Cost (Federal or State) Reimbursement Costs that are ABOVE AND BEYOND daily operations Need declaration (FEMA) Need State of Texas Assistance Request - STAR (State) Can use daily burn rate data to calculate: Specific cost categories FEMA/TDEM reimbursement forms 17 ICS ORGANIZATIONAL CHART 18 9

10 Accounting Overview Accounting Process ICS Roles Accounting System, Reconciliation Finance Unit Leader Labor Equipment Purchasing, Contracts, Mutual Aid, Leases Risk Management Time Unit Leader - Labor Time Unit Leader - Equipment Procurement Unit Leader Comps and Claims Unit Leader Daily Burn Rate Cost Unit Leader 19 Daily Burn Rate Templates Daily Burn Rate Template Links

11 ACCOUNTING SETUP Disaster Contact Information Who is the "lead" of an emergency at the Hospital or PNP? Is there an Emergency Manager? How do you know if a "Disaster Declaration has been declared for your jurisdiction? Are you in contact with the state, county, or local jurisdiction during a disaster? Accounting Systems How are projects tracked? Project, Fund other? Can your accounting system track funding by Department? Does your hospital create a "Disaster" accounting code, specific to the disaster? Does your jurisdiction have a written policy on FEMA reimbursement allocations? How is the Finance section brought in to a disaster? RECONCILIATION What department is responsible for reconciliation of ALL reports, records, and supporting documents? If the Finance department doesn t do the reconciliation, who separates the records? Operations vs Finance? What are your records retention policies? Who maintains them? How are they maintained? Can any of your employees be deployed on a state mission" 11

12 ACCOUNTING ROLE - LABOR Labor Who enters/records time? Employee Division/Department HR/Finance Department Is it recorded in an electronic database (time clock) or hard copy? Can Force Account Labor Time be attributed to a cost code for the incident? What department reconciles the employees time? Are time records sent to Finance daily (during disaster event)? Are there any employees that have special pay policies or contracts? Do you have copies of those policies? Can labor contracts and HR policies be stored in an on-line database that can be accessed remotely? ACCOUNTING ROLE - LABOR Volunteer Labor Are "volunteer" labor hours captured during an event? Are volunteer staff hours recorded, verified and reconciled by Finance? How are Volunteer Actions recorded? How are these records kept? 12

13 TIME UNIT LEADER Tracking Labor How do Personnel Time Reports get to Time Unit Leader? Can you create an account for the EOC Finance Section? Cut off time for Reporting cost Delay in Report of "Burn Rate Does your policy have a procedure for reporting if electricity is down. Documents required for Reconciliation Pay stub before the disaster and after Pay and flex benefit rates for personnel ACCOUNTING ROLE EQUIPMENT Equipment Is there a list of owned equipment? Who is in charge of equipment? Can you verify "ownership Is jurisdiction equipment all cross-referenced to FEMA equipment codes? Does Finance maintain copy of FEMA codes for use during a disaster? Do you have a contract to lease equipment? Rent-vs-buying. Who makes the call? Do you have "Mutual Aid" agreements with defined hours of support prior to reimbursement being initiated? 13

14 TIME UNIT LEADER Tracking Equipment Do you have a policy on how to keep track of your equipment used during a disaster? Is your "equipment" matched up with the FEMA codes. Do you have a spreadsheet to capture this usage data? Are you able to identify equipment that is rented -vs- owned. Who is in charge of tracking equipment during a disaster? Is there a time delay on Equipment Reporting? ACCOUNTING ROLE PROCUREMENT Purchasing/Purchase Orders Who processes a Purchase Order? Are there "three bids" for purchases? Vendor status evaluated AND documented? Who contacts vendor when a purchase order is needed? Is there a written procedure for food purchases? 14

15 ACCOUNTING ROLE - PROCUREMENT State of Texas Rules: Tribal and local governments and PNP s must use one of the following procurement methods (for Texas) Micro-Purchase ( less than $3,000) Small Purchases ( more than $3,000, less than $50,000) (2 HUB s) Sealed Bid (formal advertising - Notice Requirement must be published at least once a week for two consecutive weeks with the first publication more than 14 days prior to opening bids) Competitive proposal ( in excess of $50,000) (2 HUB s) ACCOUNTING ROLE - PROCUREMENT State of Texas Rules: For Counties (Texas) Follows Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 262 Purchases are not defined into classes (micro, small, or large) For purchases under $50,000, LGC requires a Commissioners Court to adopt competitive procedures for purchases that are not subject to competitive procurement in the statute. (in practice, counties have adopted varying local purchasing policies to address that). There is really only the $50,000 bid threshold, unless it meets one of the exemptions listed in that statute or other statutes that may apply. 15

16 ACCOUNTING ROLE PROCUREMENT State of Texas Rules For State Agencies Micro-Purchase ( less than $5,000) Small Purchases ( more than $5,000, less than $25,000) (2 HUB s) Sealed Bid (formal advertising) Competitive proposal ( in excess of $50,000) (2 HUB s) ACCOUNTING ROLE PROCUREMENT P-Cards Do you use P-Cards? Who has authority to purchase utilizing a P-Card? Is there a written policy for P-Card Use? Does this policy change for a disaster? Are there Emergency P-card spending limits 16

17 ACCOUNTING ROLE - PROCUREMENT Contracts How do capture/record a purchase request? (WebEOC, 213RR, STAR, Hard Copy form, , etc.) What can you purchase during an emergency? Are there different rules in place for purchasing during an emergency? Who maintains the contracts? Are they available at the time of the disaster? Do contracts follow standard procurement and bidding practices? ACCOUNTING ROLE - PROCUREMENT Emergency Contracts Do you have emergency Contracts? Who is in charge and implements them? Are there after hour procedures for implementation? (24/7 contact information and contingencies) Are there current Points of Contact in the contract (24/7 contact information and contingencies)? 17

18 PROCUREMENT UNIT LEADER Do you have a policy on how to keep track of all procurements during a disaster? Does you have a spreadsheet to keep track of all purchases? Who is in charge of tracking procurements during a disaster? Is there a time delay on Procurement Reporting? ACCOUNTING ROLE RISK MANAGEMENT Are you self-insured? What department is in charge? COMPS AND CLAIMS UNIT LEADER Do the responders know the process in case of an accident? Is it in writing? 18

19 COST UNIT LEADER Who collects all of the cost? What process is in place? Who is it given to? Personal Responsibility Are you ready? Is your family prepared? Does your workplace have a plan? Does your church, place of worship or civic organization have a plan? Does your neighborhood have a plan? 19

20 39 20